Chapter 26: Father, Teach Me Magic

The Harvest wasn’t limited to that alone.

The Immortal Demon was nearly invincible, incapable of being killed even if its head or heart was blown off, leaving it with virtually no weaknesses.

But Apocalid rendered that useless.

Once half-killed and thrown into the Soil Pit, it was over.

Its soul would dissolve, transforming into nutrients and Evolution Points.

Even the True Dragon could revive if any part of its Life Vessel remained, but being thoroughly digested meant the chance of revival dropped to zero.

Moreover, the Immortal Demon’s specialties, Energy Drain and Soul Magic, were ineffective.

The Energy Drain was blocked by the Psionic Chitin Gauntlet, and since Apocalid had no soul, soul-related magic was meaningless against it.

“In the Dimension War, it was a fifty-fifty fight against the Immortal Demon, but thanks to the Psionic specialization, it’s a complete counter now.”

The Immortal Demon’s attacks barely landed, and Apocalid could swallow everything about it.

“I hope they hurry and decode the Evolution Code again. I want to see more.”

While others feared the Immortal Demon, to Apocalid it was nothing more than delicious prey.

“Brother!”

Joo Eun-jong waved his hand.

Choi Kangjoong flew over to him.

“You’re alive.”

“All thanks to you, Brother. Thank you. By the way, this dimension’s finished now.”

The center of the dimension had caved in, causing the Troll Habitat to vanish.

Its life as a prime hunting ground had come to an end.

“Some might dislike it, but does that even matter? We nearly had a Gate incident.”

A Gate incident meant people falling through a suddenly opened Gate or monsters emerging from one.

Of course, once the True Dragon appeared in a dimension, Hunters would be stationed at the Gate, but missing even one could lead to massive casualties.

Preventing it before the Gate opened was best.

“If anyone complains about this, I’ll smash them all. Just trust me!”

Choi Kangjoong didn’t find him trustworthy at all but let it slide.

Joo Eun-jong was beyond his understanding.

He summoned Apocalid and headed to the Gate.

Suddenly, the Gate widened, and a group crossed over.

“Hurry and find them!”

A middle-aged man shouted urgently but froze when he spotted Joo Eun-jong, his face hardening as if that moment never happened.

“There you are.”

He was none other than Joo Eun-jong’s father, Joo Gun-hak, South Korea’s only S-Rank Flame Mage.

With an authoritative demeanor, he radiated a fierce Mana Zone that subdued the surroundings.

Being a more powerful mage than the True Dragon, the True Dragon’s presence felt insignificant in comparison.

Joo Eun-jong frowned deeply because of that.

Joo Gun-hak showed no leniency towards his son.

“So, the True Dragon?”

“This gentleman took care of it.”

Joo Eun-jong pointed to Choi Kangjoong.

Joo Gun-hak raised an eyebrow.

To remain unaffected within his Mana Zone, one had to be at least A-Rank.

Killing the True Dragon without a scratch in such a short time implied an even higher rank.

He instantly calculated that this Hunter was not someone to be taken lightly.

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Joo Gun-hak.”

“Outer Mind.”

“Thank you for saving my worthless son. Anything you want?”

“No.”

“You’re probably unfamiliar with human customs as a different species, but humans quickly forget gratitude. If you need anything, now’s the time to say it.”

“Close the Gate.”

“The Gate incident almost happened, and the environment’s a mess, so that’s easy enough. Is that all?”

Choi Kangjoong nodded.

To Joo Gun-hak, it was the behavior of an alien who didn’t understand human culture.

In truth, Choi Kangjoong simply didn’t know what to say.

“If you want to stay among humans, you need to understand human culture well. If you join my guild, I’ll even assign you a personal instructor.”

Joo Gun-hak handed over his business card.

It was a stiff yet stylish card.

Choi Kangjoong accepted it and examined it, prompting Joo Gun-hak to chuckle.

“If you want, I can make you a thousand or ten thousand of these. Just contact me.”

Joo Gun-hak crossed the Gate with his subordinates.

Two guild members grabbed Joo Eun-jong’s arms to prevent him from escaping and dragged him along.

“Just by getting the Edge Guild card, is he collecting the business cards of the three main guild leaders? I was so jealous when Yoonseo bragged about it.”

Choi Kangjoong carefully tucked the card into the folds of his armor and left the dimension.

Inside the vehicle headed to Carrier Guild.

Joo Gun-hak and Joo Eun-jong sat in the back seat.

They sat apart, looking in opposite directions.

A long silence stretched between them.

In the icy atmosphere, Joo Eun-jong was the first to speak.

“Father.”

Joo Gun-hak didn’t even look at him.

“Teach me magic.”

“It’s been over ten years too late; better not even try.”

I don’t know what to say. When I was young, they said I was a genius.”

“Everyone hears that at that age.”

“Just teach me, please. I’ll work hard.”

“If you stop posting stupid videos to get attention, I’ll consider it.”

“No, that’s…”

Joo Eun-jong scratched his head.

“Okay. I’ll delete them. I’ll close my D-Tube channel and won’t come near it again.”

“Why the change of heart?”

“…”

“Whatever the reason, I don’t care.”

“Because it’s cool.”

Joo Gun-hak recalled the young Joo Eun-jong.

A son who thought his father was the world’s coolest hero.

That child grew up to realize his father was far from the hero he imagined.

Then, discovering the deal with the Immortal Demon to cure his mother’s illness, the son tried hard to go astray.

‘It was a mistake.’

Though he had no regrets, he often thought he shouldn’t have underestimated his son then.

If he hadn’t, the promising child would be a completely different person now.

If his son changed his mind now, it would be enough.

Once Joo Eun-jong made up his mind, he rarely wavered.

He was thankful to Outer Mind for changing him.

“Come to the training ground every day by 6 a.m.”

“Yes.”

Joo Gun-hak’s right lip curled up slightly in the direction Joo Eun-jong couldn’t see.

[Outer Mind defeats the True Dragon without a single scratch!]

The phrase was splashed in huge letters across DimensionNet.

“This hardly ever happens. Did that guy put in a word?”

Not only that, but there was also a thank-you message on behalf of Carrier Guild for preventing the Gate incident before it occurred.

-To defeat the True Dragon without a scratch, you have to be S-Rank.

-For a newbie, that’s possible even for A-Rank.

-Is he even a Hunter? If you’re a Hunter, I’ll grill pork belly in Myeong-dong.

-I’ll dance on the side.

-So what class is he?

-To defeat the True Dragon alone, it’s gotta be a mage.

-He’s a swordsman.

-Swordsmen can’t get close to mages; they get hit by magic.

-Is Aura Blade just for show?

-You think he uses Aura Blade all fight? Hunter noob.

-Summoner.

-Summons got wiped by a wide-area attack.

-Haven’t you seen American summoners wiped by Death Aura?

“Guys, he’s all three.”

Even when Choi Kangjoong commented that he was a multi-class with swordsman, mage, and summoner, he was treated like a troll.

“Why won’t people believe me?”

Muttering that, he entered the Evolution Chamber.

[Walker Class]

-Evolution Code: Rapid Regeneration

-Type: Air Walker

[Scout Class]

-Evolution Code: Trace Concealment, Acid Pouch, Leap Attack, Rapid Regeneration

-Type: Scout, Air Scout

[Warrior Class]

-Evolution Code: Combat Muscle, Acid Pouch, Rapid Regeneration

-Type: Warrior, Fighter Warrior

[Giant Class]

-Evolution Code: Combat Muscle, Acid Pouch, Rapid Regeneration

-Type: Cannon Giant, Skyeye Giant, Fighter Giant

[Titan Class]

-Evolution Code: Combat Muscle, Acid Pouch, Rapid Regeneration

[Evolution Codes]

-Trace Concealment: 100%

-Combat Muscle: 100%

-Telescope Vision: 100%

-Acid Pouch: 100%

-Wind Flight: 100%

-Leap Attack: 100%

-All-Absorption: 1%

-Rapid Regeneration: 100%

-Monster Muscle: 100%

-Death Resistance: 11%

“Synthesize Combat Muscle and Monster Muscle.”

[Using 3 million Evolution Points to synthesize Combat Muscle and Monster Muscle.]

Icons representing Combat Muscle and Monster Muscle merged into the table.

[Extracting Combat Endurance and Muscle Enhancement from Combat Muscle.]

[Extracting Muscle Compression and Elastic Muscle from Monster Muscle.]

[Psionic Combat Nerve involved in Evolution Code synthesis.]

[Source Energy infused into new Evolution Code.]

“Psionic Combat Nerve involved and Source Energy infused?”

Since Psionic specialization and Source Evolution hadn’t existed in the Dimension War, it was a phrase seen for the first time.

A virtual Apocalid muscle appeared on the table, demonstrating the synthesis process.

First, the muscle compressed, increasing the strength that the same thickness of muscle could exert.

It also became more elastic, while maintaining combat endurance and enhancement.

Then, the Psionic Combat Nerve combined in, speeding up reaction time.

Source Energy infused into the muscle became the energy source for muscle contraction and prevented muscle damage.

[Combat Muscle and Monster Muscle synthesized into Source Combat Muscle.]

“Source Combat Muscle, huh. It’s the first time seeing it, but it sounds good.”

All Combat Muscle evolved into Source Combat Muscle.

Combat Muscle and Monster Muscle disappeared from the Evolution Codes.

[Remaining Evolution Points: 4,800,121]

The Evolution Points dropped from nearly 8 million to 4.8 million.

Still, it was worth the 3 million points.

“Should I add it to Walker and Scout too?”

Combat Muscle was an Evolution Code that increased combat power the longer you fought, at the cost of higher nutrient consumption.

Walker was fundamentally a laborer, so working long with less nutrient consumption was important.

Scout also preferred hit-and-run tactics rather than prolonged fighting.

But if Source Energy reduced nutrient consumption, it might be okay to add it.

They even used Walkers as manpower against Orcs.

“I’ll add it to Walker and Scout and then remove it after farming Hydra Sea.”

Source Combat Muscle was equipped on every class.

Apocalid’s muscles became denser, more elastic, and stronger, infused with Source Energy.

“Krk.”

Rutal, who would benefit the most, was delighted.

“Regeneration supplemented and muscles strengthened; time to head to Hydra Sea to hunt Orcs.”

The dimension that had paused its voyage began moving again.

Titan Class and Giant Class carried the small Apocalid forward.

“Kik!”

Just then, knowledge came through Kai.

Due to heat and mana waves generated by information transmission, the Dark Elf underground base had been refraining from receiving information.

“So the Dark Elves maintain the balance of Orc forces? No wonder the three Orc tribes’ fights never end.”

“Kik!”

The Dark Elves provoked the Orcs’ fighting to create Death Spirits.

The Orc corpses piled in the underground caverns were also the Dark Elves’ doing.

Choi Kangjoong searched the internet for “Death Spirit” for the first time but found little information.

“Silver-haired Dark Elf seen too? Named Dielka and leader of the Dark Elves, right?”

“Kik!”

“Almost got caught as well?”

“Kik!”

“Looks like what Iselin said is true. Should I ask her what Death Spirits are?”

Though the thought came, he didn’t dare try.

Choi Kangjoong wasn’t that brave yet.

“If we hadn’t had Blink, we’d have died. Good work. Go rest outside.”

Kai quickly slipped out of the Dark Elf underground base.